The Shaker Hymn – The Last Concorde (CD)

Having demoed a bunch of songs at home we decided to try and record our new album analogue, and so began recording ‘The Last Concorde’ using a four track tape machine back in 2017.

During the two analogue recording sessions the tape machine malfunctioned and after a few days of work we watched as some of our recordings disappeared in front of our eyes. One suddenly combusting into flames and on the follow up session, a few weeks later, the tape began to twist and bend around the recorder as we bounced it down at the end of the day. It was an unfortunate risk we were working with, using second hand recording machinery, but in the end we decided that it was time to go back to recording the album digitally.

In December 2017, as we rehearsed to restart the album recording sessions, Shane complained of a pain in his side and a month later was rushed to the hospital. What should have probably been a fairly routine procedure in the summer of 2018 turned into a proper calamity and ordeal which left him critical for a number of days. He was really lucky, as were we, his friends and family. His recovery has been long and arduous.

At the start of 2020, we were thrilled to be back in a room rehearsing together as we had been doing since we were teenagers. Shane hadn’t played drums in over two years so we wanted to take it slowly while he got his strength back. Little did we know how slow we would have to take it, as Covid-19 struck Ireland in March 2020.

Shane was forced to practice drums and work by himself for months and months to get his full strength back but eventually during the more tempered months of lockdown we began to record tracks again, for this long awaited album of ours.

Some of these songs have been recorded in 2017 while others were only written during the pandemic but we kept one idea consistent over the few years – we felt like making a cosmic sounding rock and roll album that was sonically huge, a monster. It’s inspired by Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Big Star (and Chris Bell of course). Lyrically it’s focused on the changing world and some of the elements of 21st century living such as the climate, the news, the paranoia and escapism but also nostalgia, youth and a real fascination with living.

We are more pleased than ever that we are able to share this album with you and to be able to play music together again at last.